


Gimme Shelter

by red_jaebyrd



Series: The Forms We Take [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Robins, Angst with a Happy Ending, Animal Shifter Dick Grayson, Animal Shifter Jason Todd, Animal Shifter Tim Drake, Bad Parents Jack and Janet Drake, Batbrothers (DCU) Bonding, Batfamily (DCU) Feels, Batfamily rescues Tim from bad home, Batman AU, Child Neglect, Damian Wayne Has a Heart, Gen, Hurt Tim Drake, POV Tim Drake, Past Child Abuse, Protective Damian Wayne, Protective Dick Grayson, Shifter AU, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, Tim Drake-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:27:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25723591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/red_jaebyrd/pseuds/red_jaebyrd
Summary: He watched the boy with rapt attention and longing; wondering what it would be like to be wanted; to be acknowledged; to be loved. The boy was very nice to Kitty always giving him human food to eat and not the yucky dry stuff the man and woman had always left out for him. The boy even gave him a name, Tim. It was odd to him that the name felt right.
Relationships: Tim Drake & Damian Wayne, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson, Tim Drake & Jason Todd
Series: The Forms We Take [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1868716
Comments: 24
Kudos: 483





	Gimme Shelter

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [batfam AU where all the kids except for Damian can shift into animals](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/661627) by acidulication. 



> This fic was inspired by a fanart concept where all the batkids except Damian are Shifters. Dick is a panther. Jason is a hyena. Tim is a Russian blue cat. Each have their own histories of how they came to be with Bruce. The artist acidulication@tumblr came up with their own concepts for this AU, I was just inspired to write a fic around how Tim comes into the family.
> 
> CW: All the bad things that can be done to a cat, as well as a child, Tim's parents do to him. Nothing is shown, just briefly mentioned from Tim's POV.

There was a silvery gray cat with beautiful blue eyes that rested on the garden wall separating the grounds between two properties. The young cat liked to spy on the boy that played with the big black dog. Sometimes the boy with the friendly green eyes also played with a big black cat.

He watched the boy with rapt attention and longing; wondering what it would be like to be wanted; to be acknowledged; to be loved. The idea started to make him nervous and he started to tremble. This caused him to lose his balance on the wall and fall into his neighbor’s back garden.

Frightened, the cat tried to jump back onto the garden wall, but the wall proved to be too high. If he had been better fed by the people in his house, he might have been able to clear the wall, but no.

He walked a short distance from where he had fallen trying to find something that would give him the boost he needed to jump back, but there was nothing except a lot of open space. It was a beautiful back garden with a gazebo, a rose garden, some scattered trees and well-manicured hedges. It was beautiful, but the cat didn’t belong here. He had to get out of here fast.

He strolled along the border of the grounds and he started to hear faint barking. The sound was getting closer and closer to him and he started to panic.

The scared young cat ran full tilt heading for shelter under a bush of jasmine flowers. The dog had stopped barking, but his nose kept sniffing around where the feline was hiding. When the nose got too close the cat batted it away.

He didn’t have front claws to defend himself. The people in the big house made sure to get rid of them so he couldn’t scratch them. He stayed under the jasmine bush watching the dog’s paws go back and forth until he heard lighter footfalls and a child’s voice.

“Titus, get back! You’re scaring the kitty.”

The young cat stayed very still, but he knew that voice. It was the voice of the boy he watched every day from the garden wall. He ventured his head out and sniffed the air. The boy sat patiently crisscross applesauce by the bush. The cat kept his eyes on the boy’s hands. He knew what hands did to cats like him and he made sure they were in his line of sight.

“Hi, kitty. Oh you’re little. Are you lost? Do you have a home?” The boy asked, offering his hand for the kitty to sniff.

At the sight of the hand the kitten flinched further into the shrubbery.

“Are you hungry? I can get you some food? Come Titus.”

The feline watched as the boy and the dog left his make shift shelter. He ventured his head out again to look around. He had run so fast that he hadn’t realized that he had hid under the jasmine bush that was located closest to the house. Not hearing anything for a while, the young cat curled up and took a nap.

The boy was very nice to Kitty always giving him human food to eat and not the yucky dry stuff the man and woman had always left out for him. The boy even gave him a name, Tim. It was odd to him that the name felt right.

“My name is Damian. Father says that you are welcome to stay here as long as you like. Would you like that? We promise to take good care of you.”

One by one several of the other animals of the house came to meet Tim. The first one was the very big and very friendly cat. He wasn’t anything Tim had ever seen before in his young life. The big cat was actually a panther called Dick, with a beautiful coat and startling blue eyes. Dick insisted on always grooming Tim. At first Tim was uncomfortable, but he soon grew to look forward to it.

The next one he met was a hyena who Damian called Jason. Jason seemed very intrigued by Tim; almost frightened of being around him. Tim wondered if Jason had never seen a cat before.

“What’s wrong, Jay? Come meet Tim.” Damian coaxed the hyena, but stayed at a distance. The hyena made a strange strangled noise that caught Damian’s attention. “You’re not going to hurt him. Just remember to be gentle, okay?”

Tim had learned quickly that Jason was a fierce protector. The hyena never let Titus or Alfred the cat get too close to Tim.

* * *

Tim was still afraid to go into the house, but one day it was raining and he didn’t have much of a choice. He trusted that Damian would never hurt him, but that didn’t stop him from being wary of humans. Eventually he followed the boy passed the kitchen and up the stairs to the bedrooms.

Damian led Tim into an empty bedroom. He sat down on the bed and patted the space next to him encouraging Tim to join him. Tim looked around cautiously before obeying the gesture. He jumped up and honestly couldn’t remember ever feeling anything so soft and comfortable in his life. Tim walked all over the bed taking in the comfort under his paws. The people at the house hadn’t given him a bed in what felt like years. He finally settled down and stretched to his full length on the bed.

Dick and Jason came in to the bedroom and looked knowingly at Damian. Tim watched the exchange and immediately straightened giving the newcomers his full attention. Tim watched as both the panther and the hyena shifted into human boys. Dick looked to be in his late teens, Jason a few years younger than Dick. Dick was the first to speak.

“Tim we know that you are a Shifter. We want you to know that you are safe here. If you feel more comfortable remaining in your cat form, we understand. But if you wanted to shift back, that’s okay too.”

Tim stared at both of them with wide eyes. He didn’t know what to do. He only remained in cat form because he figured none of them wanted to bother with him being human. Human boys took up much more space than cats.

He did wonder if they had already known he was a Shifter. Damian had never once fed him cat food. He had always fed him human food on a china plate and had always left a fork.

Tim couldn’t remember the last time he had shifted into his human form. The man and woman had never liked him taking up much space so they had made him shift and had kept him in a too small kennel as punishment. The too small kennel prevented him from being able to shift back.

Often enough they had left him alone with too little food and water. In his desperation he had figured out how to get out of the too small kennel and left the house. But because no one had known that the man and woman had a son who was also a Shifter, he had remained in his cat form.

Tim burrowed himself into the covers of the soft bed, took a deep breath, and shifted. He was ashamed of the state of his clothes. They were old, dirty and torn. The man and the woman had stopped giving him clothes once they had made him shift permanently.

“Tim,” Dick whispered, resting a hand on his head. “Are you okay?”

Tim peaked out from the blankets and nodded. “Y-yes.” It came out raspy from disuse. “Does…does Bruce know…what I am?”

Dick smiled. “Yes. He’s known for a while. Since the first day Damian found you.”

“He’s…okay…with me being here?”

“Very much. This bedroom was his idea. It’s yours.”

Tim looked around. “Mine?”

He didn’t know what to do with this new information. He couldn’t remember ever having a bedroom before.

“Can…” Tim swallowed. “…can I take a shower?”

“Of course. This is your house now, Tim. You are safe here in whatever form you choose.”

Once he was able to get cleaned up, Tim was a whole new being. His skin felt soft and clean and when he shifted his coat was shiny and free of mattes. He was still insecure with the freedom to be able to shift back and forth between human and cat, but everyone in the Manor encouraged him that either form was acceptable.

He alternated frequently between both forms trying to get used to being human again. Dick, Jason and Damian were great at helping him be a boy again. They included him in activities and gave him frequent hugs (these were mostly from Dick). Most importantly for Tim, they treated him like a person, not a creature they despised.

When Tim got overwhelmed with all the human stuff, shifting into his cat form was finally an enjoyable option. No longer did he resent his cat form because the people around him loved him as Tim the boy and Tim the cat. They treated him the same, as a person who just happened to be able to turn into a cat at will.

For the first time in a long time Tim was finally safe, loved and wanted.

**Author's Note:**

> I may continue this, I'm not sure. If I do it will be how each one of the other kids meets Bruce. Thanks for reading. Tell me what you think.


End file.
